2018.08.27 Wrong Way!

Daily Reading:  Proverbs 21-22

Scripture Focus: Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart. (Proverbs 21.2)

Devotional Thought: Several weeks ago, Lana and I were in the town where her mom used to live.  We had a couple stops to make, and they were not on our old normal route.  As we left one stop, I thought I knew where I was going, and I turned south on I-79, just like I was used to from there.  I thought I was right, but I really needed to go north.  Lana said, "I wondered why you were going this way, but I thought you knew what you were doing."

We can go through life that way, too.  We can think we are making all the right turns and discover that - oops! - we're going the wrong way! 

There are some things we can do:

·        Listen to our brothers and sisters in Christ.  I love to tell my grandchildren "The Monkey Story" about a little monkey who goes to the swamp to play.  Many of his jungle friends try to stop him, but he is determined to do what he wants, and he ends up on the back of an alligator! God gives us people in our lives who have been this road before, who know the pitfalls.  We need to swallow our pride and listen!

·        Respond to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  God nudges us along the way.  If we listen and "test the spirits," his voice grows stronger.  If we ignore his promptings, his voice fades away.

·        Know the Word of God.  But we can't just hear or read it; we have to do it!  As we do so, we will understand it more and more.

Listen for the voice of God.  He knows your heart better than even you do!

Prayer: As the Psalmist prayed centuries ago, "Search me, O God, and know my heart.  Try me and know my thoughts.  See if there be any crooked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."  Amen.

Psalm of the Day:  1 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, 2 covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. 3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; 4 he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire. 5 He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. 7 At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. 8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. 9 You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. (Psalms 104:1-9)